Sir Wilfrid Laurier Education Guide

In 1911, Laurier lost the election to Robert Borden’s Conservatives. Tensions over the Naval Service Act and a freer trade agreement with the United States contributed to a major loss of support for Laurier, and eventually his defeat. When the First World War began in 1914, Laurier was leader of the Opposition, and he played a significant role in Canada’s response to the war. He was a strong supporter of Britain, reflecting public opinion in Canada at the time, and supported voluntary enlistment in the Canadian Forces, attending rallies in support of the war effort. As he said in the House of Commons in 1914: “When the call comes our answer goes at once, and it goes in the classical language of the British answer to the call of duty: ‘Ready, aye, ready.’” But while Laurier supported the war, he opposed Borden’s implementation of conscription (mandatory military enlistment) in 1917. Laurier and the First World War

Left: Poster showing Lt. Col. H. Barré encouraging French Canadians to support France by enlisting (courtesy US Library of Congress/Prints & Photographs Division/WWI Posters/LC-USZC4-12667). Right: Military recruitment poster, Toronto, 1917 (courtesy US Library of Congress/Prints & Photographs Division/WWI Posters/LC-USZC4-12171).

CONSCRIPTION The Conscription Crisis of 1917 was one of the most divisive debates in Canadian history. As death tolls on the front lines in France increased, and as enlistment numbers declined, the government turned to mandatory enlistment to support the British forces. The debate over conscription was complex, and divisions did not clearly follow cultural lines. French Canadians were largely opposed to conscription, but so too were many non-British immigrants, farmers and unionized workers. English Canadians were widely supportive of the measure, as were British immigrants and soldiers’ families. Opposing conscription did not necessarily mean you were against the war, as Laurier demonstrated. He viewed conscription as an attack on French Canadians, and anticipated the divisiveness of the issue. “Is it not true,” Laurier asked, “that the main reason advocated for conscription — not so much publicly as privately, not shouted but whispered — is that Québec must be made to do her part, and French Canadians forced to enlist compulsorily since they did not enlist voluntarily?”

Insert caption here. Insert caption here. Insert caption here. Insert caption here.

Virtually every French-speaking Member of Parliament opposed conscription, while almost all English-speaking MPs supported it. Playing off of this division, Borden created a united political party that pulled pro-conscription Liberals away from Laurier’s Liberals, leaving the party a shadow of what it had been. The split over conscription led to the formation of the Union Government, which united the Conservatives and many Liberals over the issue. The new alliance, supported by many English Canadians, won the election against Laurier’s Liberals in 1917. The Conscription Crisis had multiple consequences: it caused protests and riots in Québec, it led to the formation of the Union Government, and it hardened divisions within Canada along French-English lines. Research these issues by reading the articles in the Conscription section in the Laurier Collection .

To access the Laurier Collection , visit lauriercollection.ca

WRITE A DIARY ENTRY Choose an individual from the list below. Investigate their perspective on the 1917 conscription debate, and imagine how they would have responded in a private diary entry to mandatory enlistment. Would they have supported or opposed conscription, and why?

• Sir Wilfrid Laurier, leader of the Liberal Party • Prime Minister Robert Borden • A farmer in Western Canada, with children at the age of enlistment • A francophone Canadian in Québec • The mother of a Canadian soldier who is already serving in France Write a half-page entry from the perspective of your chosen individual. Clearly explain the perspective of your individual, and include two or three pieces of evidence to support their perspective. In small groups, share this perspective with supporting evidence.

1. 2. 3.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, 1911, by William James (courtesy City of Toronto Archives/ Fonds 1244/Item 581).

EXTENSION: As a class, discuss the long-term consequences of the Conscription Crisis OR what the crisis reveals to us about Canada at this time.

11

“ The Canadian Mother” poster encouraging people to vote for the union government, Ottawa, ON, 1917 (courtesy of Library and Archives Canada/Heliotype Co. Ltd./e010697158).